A Little Bit Terrifying
by y1fellas
Summary: Fate may have prodigious talent at martial arts, but she's socially awkward and terrified of actually talking with her peers. It's unlucky for her that Nanoha notices this, and delight's in pushing Fate out of her comfort zone. High school setting, because we really needed another highschool!AU, right? Eventual romance, but it's gonna be a while getting there.
1. Chapter 1

A Little Bit Terrifying

Chapter 01

Her knuckles were white as she curled them into tight little fists. Palms sweaty, throat dry, heart rate through the roof, panicked adrenaline burning through her system. She wanted to run, she really _really_ badly wanted to run. She also wanted to hit something. While instincts of fight and flight struggled for dominance within her, the introductions went on. The parade of names marched ever closer to the second desk from the back, right next to the window.

The description 'scared' just didn't do this little thirteen year old soul justice. To be totally fair to her, she was never one to let fear rule her. Very few people could experience as much utter terror as she was right then and still be able to function.

She was going to have to stand, _and_ _speak_, to a room full of strangers. Alicia-onee-sama wasn't even there to help. _Curse you Al Hazard Middle School, both your incredible educational opportunities and for not accepting my application._ What should she do? Oh, please, would someone just tell her what do? Okay yes, she did actually have instructions to carry out, among them being to stand and introduce herself to the class, but, but, but… couldn't they be slightly less terrifying instructions?

No, _no_. She had to calm down. Fate needed to get a hold of herself and remember that she was thirteen, _damn it._ Far too old to be needing someone's hand, and far _far _too in a public place to run screaming for her sister to make everything better. Now was the time to get a grip, and-

_Oh god,_ the brown haired girl in front was already giving her introduction. "Hello! My name is Takamachi Nanoha,my family runs a bakery, and I look forward to having a good year with you all." And, _oh god no,_ it was Fate's turn and everyone was staring at her and _why isn't Alicia here? Save me, Onee-Sama!_

"Hey, you're next," the girl in front, Nanoha (who was far too quick to introduce herself), whispered to Fate now with a friendly smile. There was the sudden realisation that she'd been sitting there in frozen horror for many a long and awkward second.

Jerking upwards, making her seat scrape awkwardly on the floor, Fate let loose her eloquently planned introduction. "_HelloI'mFateTestarossaIhaveatwinandIhopetohaveagoodyearwithyouall._"

Silence. Not the comforting kind.

The teacher, Shamal who was far too quick to make Fate introduce herself to a hoard of strangers, gave Fate a confused look. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that? And in Japanese for those of us who don't speak English?"

_Oh god, _that easily made it into the top ten list of worst introductions Fate had made. She couldn't even remember the last time she reverted to another language. "F-f-fate. T-test-t-tarossa F-f-fate." She choked out, this time certain she was speaking the right language for the ethnicity she was addressing. "P-please take care of me."

She immediately fell down into her chair and buried her face in her arms, desperately wishing she had a truckload of soil she could actually bury herself with.

"...Moving on." Shamal said after a moment. Yes that would be for the best, _thank you._ "Lucky Last miss…?"

"Bannings Alisa. I look forward to making friends with all of you, and I hope the language barrier won't be an issue," she joked lightly, but her words had all the weight of a right hook from heavyweight boxer in a bare knuckle match.

No doubt if this was an actual fight, Fate would be coughing up blood as her manager threw in the towel right about now. Sadly however, this was Middle School, and there was no such towel.

* * *

Nanoha knew that according to the laws of physics, it was impossible for an object to travel at the speed of light without infinite mass and infinite energy. Still, she was impressed by just how _close_ Testarossa-san got as the blur of blonde blitzed out the door and into the hallways the moment homeroom ended.

_Like, wow… That girl can really book it._

Shamal-Sensei didn't even have time to tell her, "No running in the halls!" Before she was out of sight and on her way to first period.

_Someone really needs to write her a speeding ticket._

"Looks like we know who the fastest in the year is," Alisa commented idly stepping forward to stand at the shoulder of her best friend. "She must be super shy."

Nanoha mhmmed, guiltily amused by Testarossa's evident struggling despite herself. _So cute. _"Do you know who she is?"

Alisa shrugged. "I've never met her, but I've heard of her mother."

"Oh?" Nanoha looked across at her friend from Primary School, as they left the class and headed for first period maths.

"Precia Testarossa, a geneticist doing research on organ cloning and transplants. My parents went to a charity fundraising event for her research once. Apparently she raves like a mad scientist after too much wine."

Nanoha was silent in thought for a moment. "I think we should try to be friends with her."

"Oh, who does Nanoha want to fight now?" Suzuka asked, joining the conversation, having left her own homeroom and joining them in the halls.

"I don't want to fight anyone!"

"Testarossa-san," Alisa answered, ignoring her brown haired friend's annoyed wail.

"I don't make all my friends by fighting them!" Nanoha pouted.

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you say you wanted to fight Testarossa-san?" One boy suddenly asked, a look of awe on his face as he looked at Nanoha. "As in, Testarossa Fate-san?"

"We were joking about it!" Nanoha mewled. "I don't want to fight anyone!"

"Oh, okay, that makes more sense." The boy sounded… relieved? Pushing his glasses up, he smiled at the three girls. "I was about to say, there are far better ways to die."

"What do you mean by-" She cut herself off with an apology as she stepped past someone to enter the math room. "_Sumimasen,_" she tilted her head briefly, before turning back to the boy. "What do you mean by that… Scrya-san?" Nanoha couldn't help but be proud she remembered his name from the introduction.

"Please." The boy smiled at her while pushing up the glasses which had been knocked slightly askew as they squeezed through the door. "Call me Yuuno, Takamachi-san."

"Yunno-kun." Nanoha smiled as she corrected herself, before elbowing Alicia and giving her a pouty glare. "See? New friend, no fight."

"But it is true that most of your friends are people you've fought," Suzuka pointed out.

"No it isn't!"

"It really is."

"Girls!" An authoritative voice interrupted their conversation. All three of them turned to face the speaker, and found an annoyed looking green haired teacher looking at them. "Please, take a seat. I'm sure you can plan your battle royale later."

Blushing, three girls and one Yuuno quickly hurried to take a seat.

Nanoha found herself sitting next to the blonde boy as she pulled out her notebook. "I would under no circumstances recommend fighting Fate Testarossa." He continued in a hushed voice. "Even if less than half the rumors about her are true, she's still a black belt in most conventional martial arts."

Nanoha blinked in surprise. "Wait, really?"

He nodded. "And that's not even mentioning the fact that I know for a fact in her third year of primary school she defeated a grown man in a straight up fight."

Nanoha blinked incredulously. "That can't be true. She seems so shy."

"Oh, she is. She can barely function without Alicia around-" He cut off with a yelp as a piece of chalk bounced off his forehead. Rubbing it in surprise, he looked forward to see the teacher glaring at him. "Sorry sensei," he blushed.

And with that, the conversation was over. Nanoha couldn't help but cast a glance around to try and find Testarossa-san. As if she had a sixth sense, Fate stiffened and looked over her shoulder. Red eyes met Nanoha's blue, before Fate's cheeks soon blushed enough to match her eye colour. Fate turned around very sharply and began furiously scribbling down her notes, determined to ignore her watcher.

_So cute, _Nanoha thought for a moment, before starting her own work.

* * *

It's never a good thing when the person in your reflection looks panicked, disheveled, and like they're about to cut a path to the nearest exit. Even more terrifying, Fate was actually considering that as an option, which did not bode well for the health of any student of Mid Childa that stood in the way of her fighting retreat.

It really was a good thing for everyone involved that the bathroom was empty. If anyone had interrupted right then, Fate wasn't sure if she'd scream and hide in a stall or immediately enact operation "Evacuate the Building No Matter the Collateral Damage".

It's just that... people were terrifying.

For all that Fate could break the majority of a man's ribs in the same time it'd take most people to put on a coat, she understand one very important thing: that wasn't an important skill in the modern world. In this day and age, if you really needed your fists to hurt someone, you weren't very good at modern combat. It wasn't just the gun which had rendered hand to hand largely obsolete, the simple truth was that in the majority of modern society, as tools of the subtle battle, your tongue and your wits were far more useful.

Fate had always been shy where her sister was precocious, quiet when she should have been loud and all too happy to hide behind her twin in the absence of her mother. What had been an aide for a young girl that was the less loved of a pair of siblings soon became a crutch, and now she was crippled without it.

How could she talk to strangers when she could barely work up the nerve to converse with her own mother?

"Testarossa-san?"

Fate was surprised she didn't actually shriek in utter horror, but still felt disappointed by the whimper that fled her throat and made for the exit before the rest of her could follow. _The traitor._ Before she turned to face her social assailant, Fate took a calming breath, plastered a smile on her face that wasn't at all creepy, and turned around.

"Are you okay?" Blue eyes, the same that had been watching her during math class. What did they want?

"I'm fine, thank you." No hitch in her voice, no hint of the terror lurking beneath the surface. She was doing well.

"Are you sure?" And then the eyes moved closer, hands reaching out for-

Fate wasn't there anymore. Fast as she could move (very), she'd slipped past that searching hand and bolted out the door.

"Wait!" Blue Eyes called, ignored.

One more period, science, then recess, _thank god_. There wasn't much more she had to endure before she could get away from all these damned people. Surely there was a roof somewhere, or if she could claim a table before anyone else did, surely she could be alone _somewhere_ in this damned school.

She wasn't first in the science room, but she was assigned a good bench near the back. Not so close to the teacher that she was likely to be called on, and close to the exit so she could leave when the bell rang (within 1.5 seconds of, assuming no student obstacles were between her and the door).

Fate found herself calming, breathing out in relief. Yes, this would be easy. Just had to follow the instructions, answer questions, and take notes. No complex social minutiae, no icy blue eyes burning a hole in her back, just questions, answers, and then a break.

Easy.

Taking out her notebook and a blue pen, she stiffened when the stool next to her was pushed out and a weight settled down onto it. No, no reason to panic just yet. They were just another student, and there to sit through science as well. _Just ignore them, and be ignored in turn._

Fate glanced across, and nearly fell out of her seat. "Blue eyes," she whimpered in horror. Did she have a stalker? Was it rude of her to think of another student like that? What if she was a stalker, though?

"You ran out before I could introduce myself." Blue Eyes, no, _Takamachi, _some part of her recalled. "I'm Nanoha, looks like we'll be lab partners for the year."

"Y-yes. Partners. Nanoha." Fate said, unsure how to respond so simply started stating facts. After a moment, she blinked and corrected herself. "Nanoha-_san._" Didn't want to be rude.

"Your Fate-chan, right?" _Chan?!_ The horrified wailing in her brain doubled. Blue Eyes White Uniform leaned in closer. "Are you okay? You look… um… flustered."

"Flustered." Fate nodded slowly, taking the opportunity to swallow nervously. "Yes. Flustered. Um…" She pointed at the teacher. "Work?" _Please?_

The terrifying, Lovecraftian entity known to Fate as Blue Eyes White Uniform, and by some mad depraved middle schoolers as Takamachi Nanoha-chan, blinked in confusion at the strangely begging tone Fate spoke with. "Uh, sure. Let's work together."

"Together." Fate parroted while simultaneously dying a little inside.

* * *

This being only her first year of Middle School and first time in a science lab, Nanoha knew she didn't have a lot of experience to judge by, but she still estimated Fate to be a somewhat terrible lab partner. Not that she regretted being at the same desk as the blonde, just… maybe it would be better if Nanoha took the lead in any dissections they may or may not be doing in the future.

It wasn't that the girl didn't seem smart, just that she flinched a lot. As in, if Nanoha so much as moved Fate would startle back like she was expecting some kind of attack. Honestly, the girl was so ridiculously timid that Nanoha had a lot of trouble believing she was even remotely capable of hurting someone.

And yet… when she'd reached forward in the bathroom it had been like a flash of lightning. One moment Fate was there, and in the next the door to the bathroom was swinging shut. She barely had time to blurt 'Wait!' before the blonde was out of sight. If the girl really could keep that same movement speed in a fight, well…

Yes, now that she thought about it, Nanoha could see the potential. That didn't change the fact that Fate reminded Nanoha of a wild rabbit. With her two pig tails kinda like floppy bunny ears, the way she jumped whenever someone glanced at her, and even the way she kept biting her lower lip and glancing around nervously.

_So cute._

Nanoha wanted to reach out and start petting her, but at the same time she was pretty sure the best possible outcome of that would be paralysing Fate in sheer terror.

"Hey, Fate-chan," Nanoha leaned a little closer, and suddenly Fate reminded her of Bambi being caught in the headlights of a semi trailer. "Would you like to eat with me and my friends?"

Her mouth flapped open and closed a few times before she finally managed to get it to work. "N-no, thank you."

"Oh," Nanoha pouted. "Are you sure? Do you have someone else to sit with?"

"...Y-yes." And it was official. Fate was the least convincing liar Nanoha had ever met.

Smiling to herself, _so cute_, Nanoha probed a little further. "Oh? Who is it? Maybe I've met them."

"I-I don't think you know them." Fate said quietly, while shooting a pleading look, begging her to stop asking.

"Oh? What are their names."

"...F-ferrari and- um… and Angelina?"

_Those are just cars!_ Nanoha cheered for herself. "Oh? Are they in this class?"

Fate shook her head, desperately avoiding eye contact.

"Is that because they don't exist?" She had to fight the urge to cackle evilly at the way Fate stiffened suddenly.

"N-no, it's just, uh… Well, you see, I'm sorry!" Fate bowed her head, stammering out another apology. "I'm really sorry, but-but-"

"It was really mean of you to lie to me, Fate-chan." Nanoha continued over the top of her. "I was starting to think you didn't want to be my friend."

"No!" Fate protested, "I did, but-"

"Oh? So you did want to eat lunch with me?"

Fate nodded enthusiastically, until she realised what she was agreeing to. "Wait, I-"

"That's great!" Nanoha smiled in a way that wasn't at all predatory, before taking advantage of Fate's state of helpless terror by grabbing her hands. "I hope we can be good friends!"

"F-friends?" Fate repeated, looking up at Nanoha with slightly teary, frightened eyes.

"Mmhm!" Nanoha answered cheerily, before finally taking pity, and easing off on the social domination. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together."

"Fun?" Fate repeated, sounding dubious.

"Yes." Nanoha agreed, then firmly added. "_Lots_ of fun." And if Fate whimpered a little at that, as far as Nanoha was concerned it only served to make her all the more adorable.

* * *

**AN: Fate Testarossa is an absolute prodigy of combat. No, really, and I don't mean in this story, but the original show. Think about it, Fate was only ten years old when she fought Signum to a standstill, with a_ scythe._ Actually consider that. A scythe is a terrible weapon by any measurable standard, but she was able to fight Signum for almost a full twenty minutes (going by the episode length) despite not having a weapon that was inferior in every way and lacked cartridges. It should be pointed out that Signum is, well… Signum. She has literal a millenia of combat experience, and is an S ranked mage. In fact, Fate wasn't even ten years old when she fought her, and only AA ranked. Due to being a clone she was probably closer to three or four years old at the time, and I highly doubt Precia would have been training Alicia in advanced combat techniques, so all of Fates skills are hers, and not shared memories.**

**Nanoha undeniably has more talent at _magic _than Fate, but as far as weapon skill goes I have no doubt that Fate is miles and miles ahead of anyone except Signum or maybe Zest. It's shame for Fate's sake that magical skill is evidently more important in a mage fight than weapon skill.**


	2. Chapter 2

A Little Bit Terrifying

Chapter 02

Blue Eyes White Uniform was clearly more insidious than her appearance would suggest, firmly cutting off Fate's escape before she could even attempt it. Little more than a few seconds ahead of the bell's signal for freedom, she reached out and took Fate's hand before she could even leave her chair. The option of removing the limb to escape was weighed, _either mine or her's will do_, but Blue Eyes White Uniform prevented that as well by pressing Fate's bag into her free hand.

"Come on!" The monster smiled cheerfully, (_why is she doing this to me?) _before dragging Fate out of her seat and into the hall.

Fate would like to think she put up a good fight, effectively resisting her classmate's cruel agenda and slipping through her claws with carefully made excuses, (_I-I have a doctor's appointment! A-and detention! I-I need to take Arf to the vet!)_ but the Blue Eyed One would have none of it. Her carefully crafted lies were picked apart with barely an effort, and without even time to rally her defense, she was dragged down the hall and into the cafeteria without even putting up the same level of fight as a stout cat. Or a pliable kitten for that matter.

And then there was a chair in front of her, and a friendly but firm instruction in her ear. "Sit down, Fate-chan." The hand in her hand guided her down to the seat, and before she knew what was happening the introductions were well under way. "Fate-chan, this is Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan."

"Pleased to meet you." The Japanese native with the purple hair greeted.

The fellow blonde Gaijin frowned. "Nanoha, what did we tell you about kidnapping people?"

Before you could say, "Mou! That's not funny, Alisa-chan!" Fate was already staring at her blue eyed captor in horror. The claim that, "She's only joking, Fate-chan," was far less comforting than it was probably intended to be.

_Who jokes about that? _Fate took out her lunch hoping that if she finished as quickly as she could, she would be allowed to leave sooner. Her plan promptly backfired as Blue Eyes White Uniform took advantage of her vulnerable state with a worrisome suggestion.

"Why don't you have lunch with us from now on, Fate-chan?"

A valiant effort was made to explain why that would be disagreeable, but with her face turning purple due to a serious case of sandwich-lodged-in-airway-itus, her message presumably didn't get across.

"Are you okay?" Suzuka asked, and pushed her water bottle towards Fate.

Clearing her throat, Fate nodded quickly and took a long deep drink from the bottle. Her eyes were on the White Devil in case she tried to make another effort on Fate's life while she was imbibing the sustenance.

No such attempt was made.

"I, uh, toilet." Fate stammered nervously, while glancing around to see if they believed her lie. Oh no, Blue Eyes White Uniform looked amused_. Retreat! Retreat! _"Need to go." she added, before moving to stand up, only to freeze as Nanoha stood with her.

"I'll go with you," she said latching onto Fate's hand. Blue Eyes. Frozen, icy, _alien._

_She has no soul and she wants to steal mine! _"Please let me go, I promise I won't tell anyone!" The blonde bargained desperately.

Nanoha blinked in confusion. "Tell anyone what?"

"Your...secret?"

Nanoha sighed. "You don't actually need to go the bathroom, do you?"

Fate's shoulders slumped in defeat, before quietly shaking her head.

Nanoha nodded, as if expecting that. "Sit down, Fate-chan."

Dragged back into her seat, Fate could only finish her lunch with her left hand while Nanoha kept a firm grip on her right. Good thing she was ambidextrous.

"Where do you live, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked.

_Is she going to follow me home?!_ "I-I can't remember," was the first excuse that came to mind.

Nanoha raised a sceptical eyebrow, most likely not entirely convinced. "Oh, well what's your mobile number?"

"Uh… I don't have one." Fate swallowed, averting eye contact.

Blinking, Nanoha reached into Fate's school bag and took out a small black mobile phone. "Then what's this?"

"My… friend's… phone?"

"Oh? Which friend?"

"...Ferrari."

"Doesn't she not exist?"

Caught lying once again, it was all Fate could do to nod pitifully.

"It's mean of you to lie to me, Fate-chan." Nanoha said sternly.

"I'm sorry." Fate whimpered.

Nanoha's lower lip started to tremble, shocking Fate. "I'm starting to think you're just being mean to me, Fate-chan."

"That's not true!" The blond blurted, panicking.

Blue eyes started to water with tears. "Then why don't you want to be my friend?"

"I do!" she protested. "I'm sorry, please don't be sad, let's be friends."

"Really?" Nanoha looked across at her, hope shining and her shimmering eyes. "Then... you'll let me have your number?"

Fate nodded rapidly.

"Great!" Nanoha smiled, wiping away her crocodile tears. She flipped open Fate's phone, and typed her number into the contacts, before getting Fate's number and adding it to her own. "I'll call you tonight, ne?"

Later that day, Fate would despair over just how easy she was to manipulate.

* * *

Alicia loved her twin sister dearly. Really, she did. That said, it still probably wouldn't take much prompting to make her admit she was glad Fate was going to a different school. Alicia's exact genetic match or not, Fate was… well… stressful. Simply put, Fate was a great big ball of nerves, that could kill_ everyone_ in a room if prodded too much. And for a long time it had been Alicia's job to keep a handle of that, _all the time. _Every minute of every hour they were in primary school.

That was a lot of responsibility to put on one little girl.

Not that Mother would listen or even care when Alicia pointed out it probably wasn't a good idea to keep training and equipping an easily panicked murder machine. Her typical response was usually, "Just as long as she excels at _something_."

At least Alicia had managed to convince Mother to not let Fate go to school armed anymore.

It had been something of a relief to discover that Fate would no longer be her immediate responsibility, following Alicia around, needing constant hand holding and careful (obvious) manipulation. Yes, Fate was probably finding it extremely stressful to be alone like this, but maybe it would be good for her? Either Fate would learn to make some friends, or she'd snap and kill a room full of innocents. It wasn't like anyone Alicia knew would be in that room anyway, right?

Fate was just incredibly tiresome to deal with after a while. Alicia needed a break, and if it got too hard for Fate, she could just transfer into her school before things got out of hand.

Mentally, Alicia took after her mother. Even from a young age, she had an incredible aptitude for maths and science, eagerly hunting down bugs in their garden, pulling them apart and labeling their pieces. She still had a collection of pinned beetles and pressed butterflies in the back of a closet somewhere. Alicia had always been asking things, 'Where does the river come from?', 'How does a car work?', 'Why do I look just like Fate, but different from everyone else?' By age twelve, she was something of a prodigy, with a near genius IQ and had easily gained entrance into the prestigious Al Hazard all girls school.

Fate on the other hand… she wasn't dumb by any stretch of the imagination, she did well enough across the board in her studies. She just didn't excel in the way her mother expected. It wasn't until they were eight years old, and their uncle Scaglietti had signed them both up for a karate class that Fate discovered where her true talents lay. In just under a month, Fate was pressing black belts to their limits who were twice her age.

Mother was just glad to learn that her 'spare daughter' wasn't 'completely mediocre'. She was more than happy to sign her up for a suite of classes, get her the best instructors their rich money could buy, and rapidly transformed Fate into what was probably the most terrifying twelve year old in the world.

It was a little depressing for Alicia to watch. She knew that for all that Fate enjoyed her lessons, spars, and katas, it simply wasn't _healthy._ Of course, Fate's skills only made other primary students all the more wary of her, furthering her already near-crippling levels of social anxiety.

Still, Alicia was fairly certain she was prepared to deal with whatever challenges her twin might throw her way after a wonderful Fate-free first day of school. She was nonetheless surprised upon arriving home to discover her sister huddled up at one corner of her bed, with her phone resting in the other, and staring at it warily, as if half expecting some kind of attack.

"Fate?"

Those red eyes met her's, and Fate threw herself at Alicia with desperation. "Alicia-onee-sama!"

The Onee-sama in question winced as someone who was the same size as she was, but significantly more solid slammed into her at speeds that a twelve year old should not be able to reach unaided.

_She's gonna kill me one of these days without even noticing. _"Hello to you too, Fate-onee-chan." She took the time to drop her bag before asking, "How was your first day of school?"

Fate's eyes welled with tears. "It was terrible!" Then she grabbed Alicia's hands and effortlessly pulled her across the room. "Blue Eyes! She took my phone number!"

"...She 'took your phone number'?" Alicia repeated, while gently trying to pry the grip from her wrist and failing. Fate didn't even seem to notice.

"Uh huh!" Fate nodded, giving the device a frightened look. "And she made me eat lunch with her! And I was sitting next to her in every class!" Turning around, she gave Alicia another 'hug me and make everything better' look.

Alicia obligingly put her arms around the girl's shoulders. "Fate, I know you think what you said makes sense and that you're explaining things to me, but you're really not."

Fate wrapped Alicia up in another hug, making her wince as her spine was unintentionally compressed. "She keeps looking into my eyes, and calling me cute, and she shared her lunch with me!"

It took a moment for Alicia to cut to the core of Fate's… Fate-ness. "It sounds like she just wants to be friends with you."

"Uh huh!" She nodded again, looking into Alicia's eyes as she whimpered. "It was awful."

And that was about all Alicia could handle for today. With a sigh, she pried Fate's arms off of her, only succeeding when the other blonde realised her sister wanted to be free and let her go. "I'm sure you'll be fine," she said over her shoulder as she left the room.

"But she's evil!"

Alicia was just about to head down the stairs, when she heard a startled yelp/whimper/scream combination from Fate's room. She found herself faced with two choices: go back and help her sister with whatever frightened her, or go make herself some nice tea in the hope that Fate would deal with it herself.

_Whatever._ She was probably just freaked out because she received a polite text or something.

She only had one moment to realise the big flaw in her plan: there was no way on earth she could ever hope to outrun Fate. She'd had barely made it past the first step when Fate came barreling down the hall, threw her twin over her shoulder, and carried her back to the room before Alicia even registered what had just happened.

Plunked down on her feet with her head spinning at the rapid acceleration and deceleration, Alicia stumbled backwards into her sister and would have knocked them both over if Fate wasn't seemingly a superhuman god of war in the making.

She grabbed one of Alicia's hands, crushing it and making her whimper. "Ow, ow! Let go, I need my fingers!"

"It's ringing!" Fate ignored her, pointing at her phone. "It's ringing!"

"Well, answer it!" Alicia snapped, finally yanking her hand free of Fate and shaking her fingers in pain. _What the heck is she made of?!_

"I can't answer it! It's her! She's calling!"

"Who's 'she'?" Alicia growled, colour finally returning to her hand.

"Blue Eyes!"

"Oh, just… argh!" Alicia stalked across the room and snatched up Fate's phone. "Hello?" she answered.

"No!" Fate squealed diving at Alicia, who shouted, "Catch!" and threw the phone at her twin. Fate arrested her dive by putting one hand against the floor and halted her momentum with a strange twisting roll before springing to her feet to catch the phone. Then she seemed to realised what she was holding, before squeaking and nearly dropping the device in her hands. She clumsily juggled it for a few seconds, before finally putting it to her ear.

"Fate?" Someone on the other end asked.

"P-please leave a message after the beep!" Fate blurted out. "Um… beeeeeep!"

Alicia facepalmed.

"Hi, Fate!" Whoever was on the other end chirped, seemingly unfazed. "Who were you fighting for the phone?"

"No one! My sister!" She put one hand against the receiver and lowered it away from her mouth. 'Help me!' she whispered/screamed at Alicia desperately.

"Oh yeah, you mentioned you had a sister. Why were you fighting, did she want to use the phone?"

"Yes!" Fate said, eyes shining with hope. "Um… she wants to speak to you!"

Alicia blinked. "No I don't-"

"Here!" Fate shoved the phone into Alicia's hands, before turning around and bolting out the door.

With a sigh, held the phone against her ear. "Hello?"

"...Fate?" The girl on the other and sounded confused.

"No, that would be my twin who just ran away." Alicia muttered, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

"She's so cute." The girl on the other end chuckled. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I didn't. Fate was just using it as a way to escape."

"Oh. Yeah, that sounds like her."

"..."

"..."

_Awkward silence!_ Alicia internally announced. After a second, she broke it. "So anyway, Fate said something about you eating lunch with her and being friends? Only, you know, she said it the way she would. As in, with a lot more stuttering and raw terror than sense and chronological sequencing of events."

"Mmhm, we're friends now! She just seemed so shy at school. She accidentally introduced herself in English, and everyone who knew her seemed afraid of her."

_Probably a healthy sort of fear,_ Alicia thought. "Well thanks for taking care of her, she's sort of helpless."

"I know! She's so cute." The reply sounded… oddly eager.

"I couldn't tell you. Being my twin and all, I can't really say she's cute without coming across as a bit of a douche."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense."

"..."

"..."

_Another awkward silence. _"Anyway, if you want to speak to my sister, maybe you should call back later."

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry, what was your name? Fate might have told it to me, but I probably missed it because of all the stuttering."

"Testarossa Alicia. And you're uh…?"

"Takamachi Nanoha."

"Well it was nice talking to you. We'll have to meet some time."

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"..."

"..."

"Bye."

"Yeah, good bye." Then there was a beep as Nanoha hook up.

Fate's head poked out from behind a doorway. "Is she gone?" With a squeak she ducked behind the doorway as Alicia threw the phone at her face.

"Congratulations. I've decided it." Alicia crossed her arms and gave Fate a look.

"Decided what?" Fate leaned around the door again.

"Nanoha will be your new best friend."

Fate's eyes widened in horror. "No! Why?"

"Because someone else in this world needs to be able to deal with you, or I'm going to be gray by the time I'm twenty five." Alicia muttered to herself as she walked away.

* * *

**AN: Congratulations Alicia, you get the dubious honor of being this particular AU's straight man (woman). This position comes with no benefits, and many people will laugh at your expense. That's what you get for not having a cannon personality!**

**In any case, the main purpose of this chapter was to give you an idea of Fate's homelife and family relations, and help explain why she is the way she is. Her poor social skills are mostly the fault of her mother treating her like a secondary daughter, on top of her natural shyness.**

**Something that I actually found rather sad about the anime, and I never felt was properly addressed, is that Fate doesn't just accept abuse in the relationships she has, she seems to expect it. I assume this eventually gets corrected by the Harlaown family and her adoption, but her first ever friend was the person who fired a starlight breaker into her face.**

**The way Nanoha befriended Fate was essentially, 'I'm gonna beat the shit out of you until you submit and accept my friendship.' The saddest thing is that it worked. Fate's first real friend and presumed lover became so by beating her until she lost consciousness.**

**That's messed up. Especially considering the already ridiculous amounts of trauma that had been inflicted on Fate.**

**It actually says a lot about Nanoha that her solution to most problems seems to involve Starlight Breaker-ing anything that offers her too much resistance. Girl with sad eyes doesn't want to be your friend? Starlight Breaker her. Your students not following your training regime? Starlight Breaker them. Your daughter been possesed by an Intelligent Ship from ancient Belka? You better believe that bitch be getting a Starlight Breaker, and no, not the ship.**

**I shudder to think what Nanoha will be like when Vivio becomes a teenager and enters her rebellious phase.**

* * *

Omake:

_A couple of years ago._

"Mother?" Gentle knocks, _very_ gentle. No one wanted to wake Mother when she was resting from another late shift. Much better to let sleeping Precia's lie.

"Yes?" Came the answer after a pause, the _tacka-tacka _of a keyboard filling the silence.

Fate pushed the door open, and found Mother at her desk, face bathed in the light of a computer screen. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course. I always have time for you, Alicia." She answered, reaching forward and turning her monitor off before spinning around in her swivel chair.

"Um… I'm Fate."

"Ah." The chair swiveled back the other way, and the monitor was switched back on. "What is it?"

"Um… I was wondering if I could stop taking Takahama-sensei's karate classes on Wednesday, and learn something else instead."

_Tacka-tacka. _"I wouldn't mind, but why do you want to stop?"

"W-well, I'm further ahead than the other students, and he doesn't want to put me into the adult class." Fate swallowed nervously, lacing her fingers together.

"I see. And what did you want to learn instead?"

"Um… I was hoping to learn parkour, it um… looks fun."

"'Fun'?" Precia repeated the word, her typing halting. She actually took the time from her work to give Fate a sharp look.

"A-and it will also help me with my agility and speed. A-and- and…" She swallowed and stared at the floor. "I-I'd like to try it."

"What is 'parkour'?" Precia said, turning back to her computer screen and googling it. After a moment of reading and a quick video on youtube, she nodded. "I can see how that would be useful to you."

Fate looked up hopefully.

"Hmm…" Precia said to herself, bringing up her work again and resuming her typing. "I don't want you to quit your class with Takahama-san, though."

With a sad look at the floor, Fate turned to leave the room.

"How about this. I'll have a talk with him, and see if I can't convince him to put you in the adult class. We can schedule these 'parkour' lessons after your kendo session on Sunday. Has your instructor in advanced you to actual swords yet, or is he still having you play around with those bamboo things?"

"We're using real swords now." Fate admitted.

"Good. I'm not wasting good money so you can play around at being Samurai with other children." _Tacka-tacka. _"Is there something else you wanted?"

"N-no, Mother."

"Good. Have the help bring dinner up for me."

"Yes, Mother." Fate admitted, bowing out and closing the door behind herself.


	3. Chapter 3

A Little Bit Terrifying

Chapter 03

One day, Hayate would be lord of all the earth. Far in the future (but not too far), people would build, immense monuments and statues the size of towers in her honor, painstaking work that would take an entire lifetime to complete. Generations of children would be taught to feel nothing but sheer love and respect for her and her legacy. Every nation, every people, every tongue on earth would bow to her will. She would be the greatest leader mankind had ever known, through the weight of her beauty, charisma, and wisdom shall unite all the earth to her.

For she was Hayate Yagami, and she would stand for no less.

At the moment though, she was twelve, and her ambitions for world domination could wait until she was at legal drinking age. No, today she would indulge a habit that wasn't planning world domination.

Planning her future harem.

As it stood, she judged the prospects from her current school to be good. There was a good mix of cute girls and guys her own age, a few whom could grow to be absolute stunners with regular diet and exercise. With some careful manipulation and by seating herself in the right circles, she could be certain they would get said diet and exercise.

At the moment it was just a matter of deciding which group she would grace with her (glorious) presence. This was a most crucial choice, after all, she needed to be certain she would pick a group who would not only grow to be worthy of her ministrations, but whom she would also have a viable chance of seducing. After all, as difficult as it could be to comprehend, not everyone would want to sleep with Hayate Yagami. Shocking, right?

Most of the lasting friendships and social clicks had already started to form on the first day of school, and they would be well established by the end of the week. Now was the time for Hayate to pick her targets and strike.

"Hayate, you've got that look on your face again." Shamal chided gently.

"Hm?" Hayate glanced towards her adopted sister.

"You look creepy!" Little Vita chirped, holding onto Shamal's other hand. Despite her sharp tongue, she was still adorable in her matching red jacket, skirt, and hat. Not to mention the teddy bear backpack over her shoulders. "Hayate is a creeper!" She repeated cheerfully

"She may be five but she has a point. You are far too sexually developed for a twelve year old." Shamal gave Hayate a worried look.

She didn't really know how to respond to that, so Hayate just shrugged. "One of us has to compensate for Signum."

Signum, The tallest of the siblings, spared her younger sister a look. It was the sort of look that would render lesser mortals paralyzed with fear.

Hayate was no lesser mortal. She still swallowed and looked ahead nervously, though. "A-anyway, it's not like it's a problem."

"It will be once you start corrupting other students, and their parents complain to Mr Graham. You're twelve Hayate. Please act like it."

It was all Hayate could do not to roll her eyes.

They walked in silence for a few moments, before Signum spoke. "Do not bring shame to our family." And if there was a hint of warning in that, it only frightened Hayate _slightly_. After a moment, Signum added more kindly. "Shamal and Graham-_dono_ worry about you."

Hayate used to try to tease Signum about calling their foster father 'dono', until she realised Signum wasn't even remotely embarrassed by it. It was like trying to tease a rock for being too hard. Hell, you'd have a better chance of making the rock blush.

"You worry about her too." Shamal gave Signum a look of her own, before turning back to Hayate. "Please be careful."

_Caution is for people who won't take over the world one day, _Hayate thought to herself. "I will be."

Shamal gave her another worried frown, before continuing past Mid Childa's front gates. "Have a nice day at school. Call me or Signum if you start any fights."

Signum added, "Wait for us here when school ends. We'll pick you up after we get Vita."

Hayate rolled her eyes. "Yes, _Mothers._ Exactly like you said yesterday."

Another vaguely terrifying look, _and she should not be that scary with pink hair_, then Signum was gone.

With that, Hayate passed through the school's gates and advanced down the path. She passed the sign with the school name and crest, and headed towards the sound of other children her age greeting each other. The future ruler of earth's grand entry into the school was brought to a halt when she spotted something odd.

A blonde girl in a uniform was huddled up at the corner of one of the buildings, peeking around it furtively and chewing her thumbnail delicately. It took Hayate a moment to recognise her as Alicia Testarossa, the friend of a friend. Well, daughter of the friend of a friend of her adopted father. Precia was friends with Lindy Harlaown, who was friends with Gil Graham. Hayate had hung out with Alicia's son, Chrono, on a few different occasions, and had greeted Alicia at a few social events.

Now that Hayate was thinking about it, Alicia was a great prospect harem-wise. She didn't seem to be friends with anyone at the school yet, which meant Hayate could introduce her to whatever social circle she desired, and she had spectacular genetics. Judging by her mother, she was all but guaranteed to be tall and curvy, with great cheekbones and a well proportioned face.

Smirking to herself, Hayate took a circuitous route, circling around her potential friend's gaze and approaching her from behind. The blonde was leaning forward, her head poking around the corner of the building, apparently unaware that Hayate was there. Quietly creeping up behind her, she opened her mouth to say 'boo' when she paused in confusion. Hayate looked down, scratching her chin in confusion. There was something wrong here...

_I don't recognise that booty. _And Hayate **never **forgot a booty.

It was obscured a bit by the uniform skirt, but now that Hayate thought about it, Alicia's butt wasn't that… _tight_ when she saw it. _Maybe she started working out?_ No, that didn't seem likely. Alicia was a brainiac, and even complained about her PE class in one of their brief conversations. She didn't seem the type to get into shape in just under a month.

Without even really noticing she was doing it, Hayate reached forward and gave said booty a squeeze. _I don't think that's Alic-_

* * *

The stranger who had been touching (grabbing) her (butt!), collapsed against the wall, propelled there by Fate's vicious kick. Before the girl (molester! Pervert! Hentai!) could make another grab (grope!) for Fate (her butt!), the bottom of Fate's shoe slammed into her head for a second time. Now needing her feet under her for stability, Fate skipped back a step, both hands ready to deflect any further attacks. She watched her collapsed opponent for a few more seconds until she realised something.

The molester was wearing a school uniform. And she wasn't moving.

_I just knocked out a fellow student._

"Oh." Fate froze, creeping a little closer to the prone form. "Oh no." She leant over her fellow student. "Oh no, please don't be hurt!"

The girl was still breathing, _thank god._ But she just knocked someone out! Oh, Alicia and Mother were gonna be so dissapointed… Well, Mother may be vaguely annoyed, but Alicia would definitely be sad! And Fate would be expelled! Then she'd have to go juvenile hall, or if she was lucky a bad school full of delinquents and raised into a life of crime and spend her years breaking legs for the Yakuza!

_No! I can't do that! I don't want to be a criminal!_

Glancing around quickly, the fugitive grabbed her bag and hightailed it out of there before anyone noticed her standing over the collapsed student

* * *

"Hey? Are you okay?"

Hayate's eyes slowly opened to find a concerned face peering down at her. At least, she thought it was a face, at the moment all the colours and shapes were swimming together. Apparently her sense of balance had been rattled too, because it didn't feel like she was lying down, but floating upwards. Her right eye also felt sore for some reason, and there was a slight pain every time she blinked.

Also: _Oh god, my head._

"Hey, my brains are still inside my skull, right?" Hayate reached for head, wincing at the pain. "Or is this just a concussion?"

"I guess it could be a concussion. What hit you?"

It took a moment to remember. "...A foot?

"Someone attacked you?" The colours slowly separated and formed a face. Blue hair, brown eyes, and- Wait. No, it was blue eyes and brown hair. The face sounded worried.

"I think it was more self defence." Hayate closed her eyes for a second, before sitting up. "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Nanoha."

"Great, I'm Hayate. Listen, Nanoha, do you think you could get me a teacher? Or, you know, some kind qualified help." After a second she added, "Not that I don't appreciate you sticking around, it's just, you know, I'd appreciate proper medical help a little more."

"Right, sorry." Nanoha blushed briefly. "I'll be back with the school nurse!"

"Thanks."

Hayate closed her eyes again, waiting for the sound of footsteps to recede, before reaching into her pocket and taking out her phone. It took a little longer than she would have liked to scroll through all the menus, mostly because she had to focus to make out the words, but in a few seconds it was dialling.

"Hayate?" Signum's voice came over the other line.

"H-hey, Signum." Hayate swallowed faintly. "You know how Shamal said to call you if I got in any fights?"

"...Yes."

"Well… I'm calling you." Hayate winced as she touched her face again.

"...It hasn't been ten minutes." Signum said, almost but not quite sounding like she couldn't believe it.

"Apparently I work fast."

There was a sigh, and the sound of a chair scraping against the floor as Signum stood up. "Alright, I'm on my way. Did you at least win?"

_...Kinda? I got to touch some booty._ "I'm a winner in my books."

* * *

"Did you hear? Some girl got beaten up out front of school today." A boy who definitely shouldn't have been talking in class whispered to his friend.

Fate froze, her writing stopping for almost a full second, before she began furiously scribbling down notes, pretending she hadn't heard.

"Really?" One of the boys whispered back

"Yeah, they say her skull got cracked open and they had to do, like, brain surgery on her."

"They did not!" Fate yelped at him loudly.

And now the class was staring at her. Swallowing, Fate quickly added "...I-I saw her in the nurses office. She was fine." And internally she was amazed she only stuttered once when addressing the entire room.

"Really? What did she look like?"

"...She had a black eye." Fate muttered back.

"That's it?"

She nodded, and opened her mouth to add, _She'll definitely be fine. Probably. I didn't kick her that hard, did I? _when the teacher at the front interrupted with a pointed glare. Which was probably for the best.

"If you're done, Testarossa-san." And Fate was not good at dealing with stares, let alone angry glares, especially not ones from teachers.

Blushing, Fate stuttered out something that might have resembled an apology if one squinted and tilted their head at it, before going back to work.

* * *

Some people accused her of being cold, emotionless, distant. She even understood why people would think that, it was an understandable mistake to make. After all, she did take great pride in her composure, doing her best to remain calm and in control at all times. Where other people her age would openly express their emotions, with so many meaningless words and frivolous gestures of affection, she allowed her actions to speak for her.

So, there was no obvious reaction when she saw the massive black bruise that dominated the right side of her younger sister's face. She didn't scowl, tighten her fist, or even narrow her eyes. Signum simply took in the sight, and swore to to find whoever did this to Hayate and break their _everything._

Make no mistake, even if she didn't look angry, she was actually just a little bit _**absolutely livid.**_ And yes, it was completely necessary for that sentence to be underlined, _italicised_ and in **bold**.

"Hey, Signum." Hayate waved at her adopted sister, ice pack pressed up against her face.

"Hayate." She nodded in response. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Hayate winced. "Well, not fine, but no permanent damage."

She asked the next question, the one she considered the most important. "_**Who**_ did this to you?" And yes, the way that was spoken was also underlined, _italicised_, and in **bold**.

A fraction of her _absolute will to destroy_ must have crept into her tone, because Hayate flinched. "I- uh… I didn't see them."

"They struck you from _behind_?"

"Y-yeah." Hayate swallowed, and gave Signum a nervous look. "You're not gonna like, murder anyone are you?"

"Do you have any hint as to who they are?"

Hayate hesitated before shaking her head. "I can't help but notice you didn't answer my question."

"Do you feel up to walking?" She asked.

Hayate nodded slowly. "Seriously Signum, you're not gonna hurt anyone, are you?"

"Come on, I'm taking you home."

"Uh, okay." Rising slowly from the examination bench, Hayate reached for her schoolbag but Signum took it for her. "But, you know, you haven't answered my question about the whole… not hurting anyone thing?"

"Don't worry, I will _**not allow them to DIE**_." And yes, that last word was underlined, _italicised_, **bold**, and in CAPITAL LETTERS.

For some bizarre reason, Hayate didn't seem reassured.

* * *

Alicia was enjoying a lovely day at school. A day that was lovely precisely because she didn't have to escort her socially awkward, mentally scarred, unstoppable killing machine of a sister. Her responsibilities for the day?

Barely existent. All she had to do was study.

And she liked studying. It was easy, it was relaxing, she was good at it, but the best part? Absolutely no chance of being permanently injured. The most she had to fear was-

"Fffff-" Alicia hissed, clutching her bleeding thumb. "Son of a fuuuh-" No the teacher and the class were staring at her! No swearing in public "-ngus."

_Papercuts_. The most she had to fear was papercuts. A fear now realised.

Sucking on her bleeding thumb, Alicia put her hand up. "Sensei, I just got a papercut."

She winced in sympathy. "Alright, go the nurses office. Get a bandaid then come straight back."

"Yes, Sensei." Alicia hurried out the door, politely closing it behind herself. She barely made it five metres down the hall when her phone vibrated. Wincing, and still with one thumb in her mouth, she took it out of her coat pocket.

"Konichiwa, Alicia speaking."

"Hi, I don't know if you remember me, but we've met a few times. My name is Hayate Yagami?"

"..." It took a moment for Alicia to search her memories for that name. "Oh, yeah I remember. You're taking part in mother's human trials."

"Yeah, that's me. Okay, so this might sound super weird, but… Did you kick me in the face earlier today?"

Bleeding thumb forgotten, Alicia came to a halt, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. "No, I didn't."

"Okay, cool. It's just… someone who looked exactly like you did that." After a second she added. "Just a few hours ago."

Alicia began massaging her temples. "You go to Mid Childa Middle School, don't you?"

"Yeah?"

_I knew this was gonna happen one day. _"My twin sister, Fate, goes to your school."

"I knew it!" Wincing, Alicia held the phone away from her ear as Hayate shouted, "I knew that wasn't you! I never forget a booty!"

"What?" Alicia asked, once the loud noises had stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"...Nevermind. I just proved myself right is all." There was an awkward cough, before the voice continued. "Anyway, do you have your sister's number? I need to talk to her."

"Uh, yeah I have the number, but… she wouldn't like it if I gave it to you."

"Please? It's urgent. I uh… I think my sister is going to try to hurt her."

Alicia sighed with relief. "Really? That's all?"

"What do you mean, 'that's all'?"

Someone was going to attack Fate? Alicia couldn't help but snort a laugh._ Good luck to them._ "Listen, I'm in school right now, so I have to go."

"You don't seem to understand. My sister is Signum Graham."

"That name means nothing to me." Alicia shrugged. "Anyway, I promise I'll talk to my sister about what she's done."

"No, listen to me! Signum-"

"I've really got to go. Bye." And then Alicia hung up.

Honestly, this was one situation Alicia didn't need to get involved in. She was more than content to ignore it, and let Fate humble whichever fool picked a fight with her. After all, Alicia was not Fate's baby sitter, and that girl had to learn to stand on her own two feet damn it. And she had more pressing things to deal with.

Like _goddamn papercuts._

* * *

**AN: There was less Nanoha in this chapter than I would have liked. Ah well. There'll be plenty of time for her to be needlessly cruel to her kawaii friend in future.**

**A disturbing implication of MGLN that never got addressed, and I can only think of one fanfic that actually deals with it, is the possibility that Fate was… well… sexually assaulted by Precia.**

**I know, I know, it's never stated or even really part of the subtext, but… damn it, the signs are there!**

**One: Precia is clearly deranged, dangerously so. She doesn't actually regard Fate as a person, but sees her as a thing. A pale mockery of her daughter. She was shown to chain and **_**flog**_** her for practically no reason. This means whatever Precia did to Fate, she regarded as justified. Fate's crime was to simply exist, as far as Precia was concerned. There was ****nothing**** she would be unwilling to do to her.**

**Two: Precia is obsessed with her daughter and not in a way that's normal for any mother. She spends literal hours and days just staring at her daughter's perfectly preserved corpse. You know how sometimes when someone loses a loved one they spend an unhealthy amount of time at their grave? Obsessing in self recrimination and soul crushing grief? This would be like that, but worse. Precia's entire existence was devoted to her ****dead**** daughter.**

**Three (and this is the biggest sign): The way Fate dresses. Think about her clothes, how revealing and provocative they are. Now consider the fact that Fate probably didn't dress herself like that, but was dressed like that. Which means either Linnith chose her creepily fetishistic wardrobe, or Precia did. **

**Even into adulthood, Fate keeps her strange black lingerie/trenchcoat/cape thing. I'm pretty sure Lindy would have made an effort to get her to dress in a healthier/more befitting manner for an eight/three year old. This to me hints at the fact that Fate wears the clothes she does because they were given to her by Precia, a woman whom she loved despite everything. She wears the clothes because they might just be the last connection she has with Precia.**

**So Precia was probably the person dressing Fate, which raises the question why would she have Fate dressed into that strange bondage/submission gear. Given the outlined facts above, not to mention the fetishy whip/bondage thing going on there?**

**...I hate Precia. So much.**

**Now, this all conjecture. I've only watched the anime, so it's easily possible there's some details in the manga that I don't know about. I could just be wrong, and I would be glad to be wrong.**

**But… given that Precia makes a habit of stripping Fate nude and whipping her? It seems entirely too plausible to me.**

**Finally, you wanna know what I think the worst part might be?**

**It is confirmed in cannon that Hayate pervs on her subordinates, and sexually assaults them by fondling them. Hayate shared a bed with Fate and Nanoha in at least one scene. Do you see why that might just be an absolutely terrible thing?**

**Fate needs a psychiatrist. Desperately. And a **_**really **__**really**_** good one.**

**With that disturbing thought, I'll leave you until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

A Little Bit Terrifying

Chapter 04

Catching Fate, Nanoha was starting to realise, was no mean feat. The blonde was, well... calling her fast didn't quite do her justice. Nanoha would swear black and blue that most of the third years in the school's track team couldn't run that fast.

And she wasn't just fast on the open field. Obstacles barely seemed to slow Fate as she twisted around, slid under, and occasionally even hopped over anyone or anything in her way. It was actually really funny to see the look on someone's face when Fate went soaring over their head for the first time. Cornering Fate didn't help much either, because she could slip around, under or over Nanoha like she could anyone else.

That's not to say catching Fate was impossible, just difficult. She practically became paralyzed if you grabbed her hand or shoulder, and as long as you were holding her she wouldn't even really try to escape. She also didn't handle crowds well, and once you actually had her in conversation it was adorably easy to manipulate her. The trick was getting her into the conversation in the first place. Well, really it wasn't much of a trick.

Nanoha found the best way to do it was to sit next to her in class, and grab her hand right before the bell rang. And if Fate made a muffled squeal/scream of absolute terror, it was all the more adorable.

Speaking of which… Nanoha glanced at the clock. One minute until the lesson was over, the perfect time to go Fate baiting.

However, when Nanoha reached for the blonde, the girl noticed and jerked her hand away. Frowning, Nanoha tried again, but the hand was moved at the last moment. Pouting, Nanoha gave Fate a grumpy look and received a frightened one in return.

Well fine then. If Fate wasn't going to play fair, Nanoha wouldn't either. She waited until the blonde was distracted by the teacher's last minute instructions, then slowly, carefully so that it wouldn't be noticed, she reached for something else entirely. With the lightest movements she could, Nanoha tightly gripped Fate's skirt. It was a good thing they were seated so close for science, or surely she would have been spotted.

And then… the bell. Nanoha had to fight down the urge to cackle evilly as Fate stuffed her supplies into her bag, shot out of her chair and bolted for the door. Or she would have. Instead Fate felt a tug at her hip and felt air on her thighs as her skirt didn't quite rise with her.

Nanoha had an excellent view as Fate looked down, saw her bare thighs and panties, then turned a shade of pink usually reserved for flowers, and immediately sat back down. Looking around, blushing furiously, Fate struggled to pull up her skirt before anyone could notice.

Then she stiffened as Nanoha put her hand on Fate's wrist. "You should know that running away is silly, Fate. I'll just be sitting next to you again tomorrow." _Unsurprisingly,_ Nanoha thought that the slightly teary, embarrassed look of utter despair Fate gave her was utterly adorable. Beaming at her in a way that was friendly, and not at all predatory she said, "I really want us to be friends, Fate." And maybe, just maybe, she wasn't asking.

Fate sat there for a moment, looking like nothing less than a polaxed kitten before Nanoha dragged the her out of her chair.

"Come on, Fate-chan. I'll walk you home."

"B-b-but I'm not going straight home."

_Awwwww_, Fate was lying again. _So cute when she tries to resist. _"Mou, Fate-chan." Nanoha pouted, giving Fate a hurt look. "I don't like it when you lie to me."

"B-but it's true." Fate whimpered averting her gaze.

"And why aren't you going straight home?" Nanoha raised an eyebrow.

"I-I only go straight home on Mondays. Every other day I have practice." Fate quickly explained, staring at their hands and jumping in surprise when Nanoha came to a halt.

"Practice at what?"

"Um… today is uh… I guess you could call it kendo, but… um… that's not really what it is."

"What is it actually, then?"

"Well… kendo is more like a sport, what we do is… uh… well, we use actual swords and-"

"Wait, you use real swords?" Nanoha frowned.

Fate nodded, smiling faintly. "Mother doesn't like it when I train with bokken. She says if I'm going to have such a useless talent, I'm at least going to take it seriously. So no playing around and grunting at each other with bamboo or curved bats."

Nanoha stared at Fate, a faint sense of concern rising within her. "That… doesn't sound safe." _My father would never let my brother and sister practice real steal on each other. _"You're not _allowed_ to use bokken?"

Fate nodded. "And… that's where I'm going this afternoon, so, um…"

"Okay…" Nanoha frowned, letting go of her hand. Then she brightened. "I guess you can come to my house on Monday then!"

Fate froze and went pale, a look of unspeakable dread coming over her. "I-I can't. I-I have practice."

"You just said you had practice every day except Monday." Nanoha cheerfully told her.

"I-I'm allergic to… to… bakeries?"

Nanoha giggled. _She's so bad at lying. _"Oh, really? Do they have a medication for that?"

"Y-yes, but I'm not carrying my epi-pen, s-so I can't go."

"Oh, well just bring it on Monday."

"I'll um… probably forget it."

"Then I'll call you in the morning to remind you to bring it, along with your old friend Ferrari."

Fate winced. "O-okay." She gave in, defeated.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then!" Nanoha giggled as she bounced away.

* * *

Once upon a time while riding the train, a man groped Shamal. She was aged fifteen. That man's arm was immediately broken by Signum, who was aged twelve. This actually surprised Signum, though not quite as much as it did everyone else on the train. The sudden, overwhelming rush of anger at the idea that someone would even think of sexually assaulting her adopted sister caught her completely off guard.

Later that evening, a young Signum would sit in her chair at home, oblivious to the sound of Graham-dono lecturing her about how he 'understood what she did', but she was not 'a part of a family that encouraged that sort of behaviour anymore'. As he talked on and on about violence not being the solution to all her problems, the young pink haired pre-teen carefully considered her new adopted family. A family that loved her fully, that didn't use her to hurt others, or want to transform her into some kind of personal killer. A loving father, an elder sister who was always there to counsel her about adapting to normal life, and two playful cats eager to pester her for food or attention.

Signum realised that she loved these people. The thought of anyone trying to hurt these people was… anathema. She would _**break**_ anyone that tried to hurt these people, this… this… _family._

Eventually when Hayate was adopted by Graham-dono, Signum extended similar feelings towards her. It didn't matter that she was a brat, or that they weren't related by blood, or even if the brunette didn't feel the same way at first. Hayate was family now. That was the only thing that mattered.

These days Signum was eighteen, Shamal was twenty one and working her first job as a teacher, and Hayate was struck from behind on her second day of school, left unconscious on the school's front lawn, and was now sporting a black eye that covered nearly a third of her face.

Someone was going to die.

Slowly.

"Signum, that's enough for today," Zest said in his soft, but gravelly voice.

"Hai, Sensei." Signum lowered the bokken in her hands, pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow, before smoothly returning the wooden sword it to its stand.

"You're slow on the recovery from each strike." Zest informed her. And by 'slow', he meant that maybe one in a thousand swordsman would be marginally faster. His eyes flickered from her head to her toes, before nodding. "You still have a ways to go." Which meant that Signum was still a while from reaching the peak of her abilities. Given that she was only eighteen, that probably spoke more of Signum's enormous potential than it did of anything else.

He tilted his head at her, before turning around and going to examine his other student.

Signum took the time to catch her breath, as she untaped her hands, took a drink of water, and toweled off her face. Turning around, she watched as Zest turned towards his other student, a little blonde named Testarossa, before heading off to get changed.

Supposedly, this Testarossa was some kind of prodigy. Signum knew her only by reputation, simply from running in the same martial arts circles. She'd completely annihilated the competition in all the regional tournaments for her age bracket, and had even requested to compete in the next age group up but had been turned down.

Personally, Signum thought trying to learn five different martial arts at the same time was a waste of her potential. The girl would be better of focussing on mastering one, rather than spreading herself thin across several, although she had to admit that Fate was progressing very rapidly with just the sword, even with only lesson a week.

Signum was just changing into her casual outfit for the trip home, when she noticed the Testarossa girl putting on a Mid Childa uniform. She paused in doing up the buttons to her jacket, her eyes narrowing as an idea formed in her mind.

"You attend Mid Childa academy." Signum said suddenly.

The blonde squeeked and jumped, turning around to stare at Signum in disbelief.

_Probably because this is the first conversation we ever had. _"Do you?"

"Oh, um, y-yes I do." Testarossa's eyes darted around, like she was looking for an escape before she quickly bowed and added. "Signum-senpai."

"My sister attends that school." Signum continued, zipping up her bag and crossing her arms as she evaluated the blonde. "Do you know her? She's the same age as you."

Fate seemed to struggle between choosing whether she should keep dressing, or continue bowing. Eventually shyness one out and she started pulling her school uniform back on. "I-I don't really know many people at school, uh, yet."

"I see." Signum watched the blonde's movements, taking note of the frightened looks that were occasionally shot her way. The girl seemed shy, unsociable, timid, and most importantly, unlikely to attack an unsuspecting stranger from behind. If rumors were to be believed, she was more than capable of protecting herself and others. _Or Hayate._ "Would you like to meet her?"

Fate did an excellent impression of a deer in headlights, before blinking and saying, "Huh?"

"Would you like to meet my sister?" Signum repeated.

For some reason she flinched at the word 'friends'. "I um… uh… n-no thanks."

Eyes narrowing, arms crossed, Signum fixed her with a sharp glare as she said, "You're saying you don't want to be friends with her." And if you didn't listen closely, you might have sworn she'd said, 'You're sure you'd rather I break your arms?'

"N-no!" Testarossa waved her arms in front of her frantically. Then she blinked. "I-I mean, y-yes. I, uh-"

"So you do want to?"

"I would be honoured!" She blurted out with a bow, like she was answering the final question on a game show.

"Good. Call your mother, let her know you'll be having dinner with a friend tonight."

* * *

Alicia tried not to worry. For a while there, she even managed to convince herself it wasn't her problem, but… ugh, protective instincts, and sisterly bonds, and family, and blah, blah, blah… If Alicia could just simply stop caring about Fate entirely, she wouldn't be trying so hard to get away from her in the first place. She'd just attend the same school as Fate and ignore her.

As it stood though?

Fate clearly couldn't take care of herself, and Alicia had to step in. She'd been going to school for less than a week now, and she was already getting death threats from someone named Signum? Not that this Signum person stood the faintest chance against Fate in a fight, but it was still worrying to hear about. Alicia knew from first hand experience that Fate was painfully easy to manipulate.

And so, here she was. Knocking on her mother's door, hoping that maybe, _just maybe_, she might be a little worried about her daughter's fate, too.

"Fate, I told you not to bother me!" Said mother called out sharply. "Whatever it is, I don't care!"

_So much for hope._ "It's me, mother. Alicia."

"Oh, well in that case, come in."

Sighing, Alicia pushed open the door and stepped in.

Turning off her computer monitor, Mother spun around in her chair and gave Alicia a smile. "Is something wrong, sweetie?"

"Well, I actually wanted to talk to you about Fate."

"I assume you mean your sister and not the concept?"

Alicia nodded.

Precia sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "She manages to waste my time without even being in the room."

Wincing, Alicia continued. "Well, apparently she's getting threats from someone named Signum."

Precia snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'm confident this Signum will find himself hospitalised for his troubles, god knows your uncle Jail has spent enough money turning her into some kind of fem-fatale henchman to his mad scientist routine."

Alicia blinked at that. "Is that why Uncle Jail is spending all that money to get her trained?"

"No. He originally planned on giving her to you as your henchman for your eighteenth birthday. He wanted to outfit her with this ridiculous brainwashing implant thing he devised, but I told him we had mental conditioning for that."

"Wait. Why would I need a henchman?"

Precia blinked and gave Alicia a look. "For when you become a mad scientist of course."

"But… I don't want to be one."

"Well, of course you don't _right_ _now, _but one day, when you're older, you'll start to wonder things like, 'how long can a human survive under dissection?', and, 'how many plasma bombs would it take to reshape earth's tectonic structure?'. And when that day comes, you will definitely want an excellent combat ready underling, such as your sister."

"W-why will I want to know these things?"

"You're a Testarossa dear, it runs in the family. I went threw such a phase when I was younger, but I grew out of it a little after I left college."

"...Is this organ cloning project you're doing just a diversion for making an army of clones?"

"I only said I grew out of it _a little_, dear." Precia waved a hand, before taking out cigarette and lighting it. "And the organ cloning will be useful for when my lungs give out."

"...Anyway," Alicia shook her head, "We've gotten sidetracked."

"Hm?" Precia blinked. "Oh, right. Your henchman."

"...Yes, my sister." It was best just to continue and not get bogged down in the details. "Well, it's just that… Fate might be having trouble in her new school."

"Unsurprising." Precia shrugged. "She is hopelessly dependant on you, and you did abandon her."

Wincing, Alicia continued. "Given that she has the skills and mindset necessary to go on a school shooting spree, and not even need a gun to do it."

"That reminds me, if we're serious about turning Fate into your armed servant, we should get your uncle to sign her up for some firearms training."

"...Yes, anyway, I was wondering if you could pull some strings, and get her into TSAB academy with me."

Precia's eyes twitched. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"What? Why no?" Alicia blinked.

"_That_ woman, the worthless goodie two shoes, is the principal of the school. No doubt she'd try and have Fate taken away from me for neglect or some such." Precia paused. "Actually, that might be a good way to get rid of her…"

"Who's 'that wom-'" Alicia's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean Aunty Lindy."

"We don't say that name in this house." Precia ruffled Alicia's hair. "Besides, you waste entirely too much thought on that sister of yours-" Just then her phone started ringing. "Moshi-Moshi?" Preccia answered.

Alicia could hear Fate's voice over the other end of the line. "Mother? I've been-"

"Fate?" Precia scowled. "Whatever it is, I have more important things to deal with. If you must, bother your sister with it later." Then she hung up.

_It's no wonder Fate's turned out like this._ Alicia winced. "Mother, I think it would be better if-" Just then Alicia's phone wrang. Before she could answer it though, Precia answered it for her.

Alicia once again heard Fate's voice. "Alicia-onee-sama? I've been-"

"I told you to bother your sister with it _later_." Precia interrupted her. "We're in the middle of a conversation right now, one which you're _interrupting._"

There was a squeak on the other end, then the phone hung up.

Precia's eyes narrowed. "Did she just hang up on me?"

Sighing, Alicia realised there was no hope for this conversation. As much as she loved her mother, she knew there was no way the woman would ever do anything that was for Fate's benefit. Standing, she said, "I'll make sure the cook's send some food to you."

"Please do." Precia turned her computer monitor back on and swiveled her chair around to face it. "I love you, dear."

"I love you too, Mother." Alicia said as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the long wait between chapters. My computer broke and it took about a month to get a replacement. Sorry that I didn't respond to a lot of reviews from last month either.**

**Anyway, geez you guys are bloodthirsty. I mean, I had planned on having Fate and Signum duke it out, but I didn't know the idea of a fight would get you guys blood roaring like that. I'd originally intended to fit the fight into this chapter, but I figured that'd pad out the chapter length too much.**

**Have you ever noticed how the Time Space Administration Bureau don't really seem like the good guys? I mean, even overlooking the fact that it's run by three brains floating in jars, there's that nasty habit they have of funding mad scientists.**

**Jail Scaglietti was a murderer, a psychopath, and they were funding him even as he cut a brutal swathe through TSAB citizens and employees, including Zest, a veteran S class mage. Then there was the whole thing with Precia Testarossa, making her build a dangerous reactor right next to a city, and pressuring her to cut corners in its creation. Not to mention that Project Fate was a joint work from both Precia and Zest, which was most likely funded by the TSAB.**

**Okay, ignoring the shady undercover research stuff, there's the fact that their main police force carries the title 'Enforcer'. They're not, 'Rangers', or 'Marshals', or even 'Detectives', they're the 'Enforcers'. They dress in black spikes and are regularly mixed up in conspiracies if Admiral Gill Graham is anything to judge by.**

**But even ignoring the fact that they certainly look and act like an evil empire, there's their frequent use of child soldiers. Chrono is barely older than Nanoha at the time of the first series, and no one seems to bat an eyelid at his presence in the military. Not to mention they literally force Hayate and Fate into service.**

**That's right, they forced them into service, even though they were willing. Fate and Hayate were both put on 'trial' for their crimes, even though the things they're being accused of weren't even remotely their fault, but actually the machinations of the adults Precia Testarossa and Gill Graham. Hayate and Fate never should have been on trial in the first place, not to mention after the farce of justice that was them being accused, they were told they had to pay back their debt to society how? By joining a branch of the military.**

**Hayate and Fate were drafted into the army as children, using the thin excuse of proving they weren't guilty of the crimes committed by others.**

**That's messed up, especially considering all the shit they'd literally just been put through, and Fate's lingering trauma.**

**Not to mention Fate's adopted children in the third series. They're even younger than Fate and Nanoha were.**

**So, the TSAB draft child soldiers, fund mad scientists, are run by three brains in a jar, and even dress in spikey black uniforms. Are you telling me they don't sound like an evil empire?**


End file.
